“West Ultimatum to Belgrado vs Russia” with Attempted “Color revolution” in Serbia like in Ukraine
The West has given Belgrade an ultimatum, effectively forcing it to choose “anything but Russia,” Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova (in the cover image) said.
“Just like in the situation with Ukraine, the West initially set conditions for Serbia, compelling it to make a tough choice, i.e. either be with the West or with Russia, instead of harmoniously combining different development paths in accordance with the national interests of the Serbian people. Now, however, the only choice left is to be with the West. As for recent remarks, they sound like nothing but an ultimatum: [choose] anything you like, just so long as it’s not Russia,” the diplomat told RT television, commenting on the ongoing protests in Serbia.
According to Zakharova, earlier, Ukraine was shoehorned into the same “us-or-them” model and all warnings were ignored.
Members of the Serbia Against Violence opposition bloc, who began rallying regularly in front of the Republican Election Commission building in Belgrade on December 18, tried to storm the city hall building on December 24 but were dispersed by police officers. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic warned that opposition protests would lead to nothing as “elections are the only way to change the government” in the Balkan country. Still, opponents of the country’s leadership continue to challenge the victory of the ruling party-led coalition in Belgrade’s city council election.
Opposition forces in Serbia breached Belgrade’s city hall amid mass protests on Sunday. They claim the recent municipal election in the capital, won by the ruling party, was rigged. Senior national officials have described the protests as an attempted “color revolution,” and said they had been forewarned by Russia.
Originally published by TASS Russian News Agency
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Early violence and Election officials react
by Russia Today
Belgrade is home to roughly a quarter of the Balkan nation’s population of over 6.6 million. The office of its mayor is viewed as one of the most important in Serbia. Members of the city council, who vote the mayor in, were elected on December 17 – the same day as a national election and several municipal votes were held.
In the week that followed the elections, the opposition staged several rallies in Belgrade, some of them marred by violence. During a demonstration in front of the Republican Election Commission last Monday, leading Serbian statistician Milorad Kovacevic and several of his associates were reportedly attacked by activists. Police seized several knives and bats from protesters, local media said.
The Election Commission denounced the violence and claimed the rally was an attempt to disrupt its activities. The head of the commission, Vladimir Dimitrijevic, expressed hope that it was an isolated incident and that any future attempts to challenge the election result would remain legal.
The body investigated opposition claims that ‘phantom voters’ had been allowed to cast ballots in Belgrade, but reported on Sunday that it had found no evidence that the election had been “stolen.”
Sunday riot
On Sunday evening, hundreds of pro-opposition demonstrators gathered in the center of Belgrade after being rallied by the SPN. Opposition leader Marinika Tepic, who declared a hunger strike last Monday and claims to be living on IV infusions, was barred from entering the Election Commission building. Meanwhile, an improvised stage was erected near the presidential residence, with speakers and performers whipping up the crowd.
Later in the evening, some activists stormed city hall, claiming they were seeking “to liberate the institutions.” The police intervened and drove them out.
Aleksandar Sapic, head of the temporary city administration, shared images of the damage caused by the rioters in the historic building, calling it “irreparable.” He declared that Serbia must be protected from the use of violence for political gain.
He used the term “Maidanization,” referring to the 2014 armed coup in Kiev, which set the stage for the current hostilities between Russia and Ukraine.
“Color revolution’
President Vucic denounced the riot, calling it an attempted “color revolution” and claiming that a foreign nation had warned his government about the threat beforehand.
Prime Minister Ana Brnabiс thanked the Russian special services for providing intelligence to Belgrade.
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The term ‘color revolution’ is often applied to the mass uprisings by ostensibly pro-democratic political forces in the 1990s and 2000s, including in Yugoslavia in 2000. Russia and some other nations perceive the wave as masterminded by the West to further its geopolitical goals, and executed through NGOs, media outlets, and parties funded by the US and its allies.
The Vucic government has been presented with a dilemma amid the current confrontation between Russia and the West. It is seeking EU membership for Serbia, which would require the realignment of Belgrade’s foreign policy with that of Brussels. However, Vucic has rejected Western calls to cut ties with Russia and join the US-led sanctions campaign against Moscow.
Responding to the turmoil in Belgrade, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova claimed it was an “obvious attempt by the collective West to destabilize the situation in the country through ‘maidan coups’,” according to RIA Novosti.
read more: Serbia thanks Russia for ‘color revolution’ warning
originally published by Russia Today
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